His Mission
by Llanthe
Summary: Dick Grayson wasn't the only one operating secret covert missions. There was something he had to do alone, and experience dictated that there was only one way to fall off the grid -so it all started with his death in the arctic that day.
1. Chapter 1

This is just a story I came up with in the middle of exam studying, more of an outlet than anything. There's some minor swearing and darker themes ahead. But this will mostly be a gen story without any pairings unless I specify later.

I have no clue about updates since they will probably be really sporadic.

Enjoy~

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**Chapter 1: Where It All Starts**

"Just tell them okay?"

"Kid?"

His vision started to blur as the energy siphoned through him and his body began phasing out. Round and round in a circle they ran. If he had been more into that boring lit stuff, he would call this symbolic. Kind of represented a hero's life and all. How did Batman always put it? Oh right; the mission never ends.

Staring up at his uncle and younger cousin's faces, he tried to give them what he thought was a reassuring smile for everything he was about to put them through. Probably failed though. They both still looked scared, desperate almost.

"Catch ya late-"

"KID!"

On June 20, 2013 at 13:56, Kid Flash- Wallace Rudolph West, was declared dead.

-)(-

The first sight as he opened his eyes was a starry sky from where he laid flat on his back. It was quiet and peaceful really.

"Irony," Wally muttered humourlessly as he propped himself up on his elbows. He was fighting a losing battle as he attempted to message an extremely fast oncoming migraine. Super speed so didn't come in handy for these types of situations.

Tiredly, he half crawled through the tall grass to a nearby tree and leaned up against it. First thing's first, he recited to himself; take an inventory of well-being and his surroundings. It had become a habit by now for whenever he woke up in an unfamiliar place, and back in the day, that meant often. Growing up as an extended part of the bat family had its perks in situations like this. Though their fall out a while back, he really hoped that was reversible. _'Wait, come on Wally concentrate, this is important dude!'_

His plan had been a success from what he could tell. Wriggling his toes inside his boots and fingers in front of his face simultaneously, there were ten of each. Yup, he would consider that pretty much a success! The corners of his lips reflexively twisted up in a triumphant smile only to be gone a second later. A grimace that had started becoming more and more common these past few months replaced it as reality dug in. Dropping his hands back down to rest at his sides, he began surveying the area instead.

The amounts of trees and lack of artificial lighting and sounds, suggested he had to be in a forest somewhere. Okay, good start. He was able to see the landscape below, but still with no lighting meaning that he was on higher ground and far from civilization. Great…. He better start figuring out how to get to a town - preferably a busy one where it was easier to blend in – quickly. Someone was bound to easily remember him. Who wouldn't notice a teen in bright yellow and totally awesome, but unfortunately still bright spandex.

Or worse, if they asked him why he wasn't in school. Again.

"And I always teased Dick about having a baby face. Even with his shit-eating grin," At this Wally had to chuckle quietly. He was definitely going to miss his friends these next few months. And Uncle Barry and Dick were so going to have a field day with him about reckless plans if he got back. When he got back.

No one intentionally ran slowly to get hit with thousands of volts of alien energy. No one usually plans to take advantage of said energy to have their molecules ripped apart so it can be displaced somewhere else. But it was a calculated risk, and a good one. Especially if he wanted the excess kinetic energy to disrupt any mind linking M'gaan might try in the next couple of hours. So all good.

Out of nowhere, the muscles in Wally's left arm painfully seized and uncontrollably spasmed. This left the boy gasping for air for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a couple of seconds until it stopped.

"Never mind, not all good….Okay, so maybe I didn't think out _everything_ with this plan."

But still, he had to do this alone, Wally couldn't risk the others getting caught in something dangerous like what happened during the last "undercover" mission. Even if they'd hate him later. With a thud, the former Kid Flash leaned his head back against the tree trunk trying to recoup some energy from the everything he had been through today. Hopefully, he could get some sleep, because he was for sure not going to get much in the days ahead.

-)(-

In the middle of the Arctic, the team was in various states of shock. Within the span of ten minutes everything had gone so wrong, so terribly wrong. Wally was at one moment there, and when the smoke cleared, he just….wasn't.

Artemis shook quietly on the frozen ground, tears streaming down her face with M'gann holding her in her arms. The rest of the team and Barry though on their feet, were still trying to absorb what had just happened. They stared blankly at the ground, at the sky or at Artemis. _Anywhere_ but the spot where Wally had previously been, where he had died.

_'It's like they were hoping that if they didn't look then they could pretend it never happened,'_ thought Nightwing bitterly.

Clenching his fist tighter and tighter, Nightwing attempted to push his thoughts aside. He had to be calm for the team at the moment, he was the leader after all. And the mission wasn't done until everyone was safe and in a secure location. At least everyone that was still aliv-

Willing his voice to steady – something he was thankful for having been taught by Batman – he called out just slightly louder than a whisper, "Everyone to the ship."

This certainly jolted people out of their thoughts. It was like a trigger had gone off that made almost all the member utter some word of protest even though most of it was unintelligible because of the number of people speaking at once.

However, he would have none of it, "We are in the vicinity of what was seconds before enemy territory. We need to move. Now." His voice was quiet still, but there was a harsh finality to his tone that cut off whatever else anyone had left to say. Everyone silently stared in him clearly unhappy with the situation, but didn't dare to push their leader any further. So one by one, the group slowly drifted towards the bioship ramp.

Nightwing however stood rooted in place, and stared at the spot Wally had disappeared from with narrowed eyes.

As the last four moved past him – M'gann supporting Artemis and Barry gripping Bart like the boy would disappear as well – they were stopped by a silent stare. "Flash, help Artemis onto the ship, I need to speak with M'gann." Earning a nod from the older hero, M'gann released Artemis, stepping aside to allow the remaining three access to the ship ramp. Once they were out of sight, she slowly walked over to their leader. Nightwing had turned back to stare at the previous spot once more.

"There's something I need you to do M'gann."


	2. Chapter 2

I forgot to put this in the last one so I'll just put it here.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or the characters.

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**Chapter 2: Am I There Yet?**

There weren't that many ways you could kill a speedster Wally realized frustratedly one night. And even fewer ways to fake their deaths; not with their hyper accelerated healing and all. Drugs to fake the symptoms like Artemis? No go. His systems burned through those substances too fast to be able to keep up appearances. And even though he could fool cardiac monitors into flat-lining when really excited, there was no fooling super hearing.

"Supey 1. Wally 0." he joked half-heartedly.

Stuffing the last handful of chips in his mouth, he flopped back on the old couch with a thump. His apartment had been way too quiet these past few weeks without Artemis. He kind of started to miss the sarcastic bickering. So with nothing to occupy him, his mind would wander and this left him a lot of time to...think. However, with everything that was going on lately, he wasn't so sure that was such a good thing.

He rocked his body forward to sit up slightly straighter, sweeping crumbs that had fallen on his t-shirt as he did so. Wiping his hands on his pants, Wally then folded them together to start running through the possibilities for what felt like the thousandth time. At the moment, there were only three options:

One, die of old age. Even with super speed, that was a _long_ way off.

Two, run until he ran out of juice and "dropped dead". Unfortunately, that would be self-inflicted, so highly unbelievable. Him, not stopping for food? Yeah right. And really, Artemis would tease him until he was eighty if he ever found out what a lame "death" he had.

Then there was the third option, get someone to pummel him bad enough that it looked like he could die. But that would mean he had to involve other people to make sure they didn't actually kill him. Not really- 'feeling the aster' for that one either. He liked his organs staying where they biologically grew thank you very much.

Three equally unlikely options, and no matter how fast his brain screens through other possibilities, nothing else seemed to fit either. Not even an option four after so many months. So basically, he was stuck.

That was until _that_ day. Dick had mentioned a ginormous concentration of overloading kinetic energy and his feet had moved faster than his brain. A quick stop by his apartment meant stuffing money, food and a small stack of paper scraps in his suit cupboards before he raced off to the arctic.

He had found his option four.

-)(-

He slowly walking among the trees parallel to a road he had found that morning. Hopefully, this would lead to a city unlike the last one – a farm so wasn't what he was looking for.

"I'm so bored! Am I there yet?!" Of course, the only answer he got was silence.

His feet had always moved with experience on rough terrain but staring at them now, he had to snort at how absurd the whole thing was. Here he was, Wally West, the fastest boy on Earth, _walking_! Though it made sense, he couldn't risk raising a signal by using his powers despite being a speedster 'Well, not anymore.'

With a long sigh, he continued to walk among the shadow to avoid being visible to any passerby's. He could have brought some normal clothes and hitchhiked somewhere, but no. For once he had to agree with his old team, he didn't think very much before diving in head first. Now he was stuck doing a weird rendition of Batman skulking, jungle edition.

He stopped dead in his tracks and cringed disgustedly.  
"Thanks for the mental scarring brain. Images of Bruce in a loincloth was _totally_ what I needed."

Sighing again, he pulled his second last bar from the cupboards and ripped off the wrapper. He had stuffed as many of his special high energy bars in there as possible but he was definitely running low. The silent forest echoed with crunching noises as he sank his teeth into it and continued walking.

-)(-

A ceremony was held two days later for the death of Kid Flash. It was a small and quiet event, where many of the people would recount silly adventures and mishaps with the once enthusiastic and childish speedster.

Aqualad stood beside the hologram memorial, speaking in front of a seated procession that consisted mostly of the team and various leaguers. Artemis sat near the front, silent tears running down her face as she tried to keep her head high while Flash held her hand and sat proudly in memory of his nephew.

However, M'gann's attention was somewhere other than Kaldur as he spoke. Out of the corner of her eye, she stared at the lone ebony-haired teen sitting in the back with a blank look on his face, worry twisting in her stomach. Leaning over to Superboy seated beside her, she whispered, "We should get him to say something."

If Superboy knew who she was talking about, he didn't show it. He merely raised an eyebrow slightly and drew his lips into a thin line, thinking a little before replying,

"Why? He doesn't look like he wants to talk about it."

"That's the point!" she quietly insisted, "He can't just bottle it up like that."

Slowly sitting back in her own chair with eyes downcast, she clasped her hands tightly on her lap. With a mental tug for permission, she opened a mind link. M'gann was still hesitant to use her power so did this rather reluctantly, but she didn't want to further disturb the ceremony.

"_Look, I know Wally was our friend too, but him and Nightwing. They were best friends, they shared such a strong bond, even people that couldn't read minds could tell. So losing someone like that..." _She fidgeted with her hands trying to think things through. Closing her eyes, she continued in a much quieter mental voice than before,

"_I just- He's been so quiet lately. I'm just really worried about him."_

She opened her eyes as a larger hand enclosed hers'. Conner's face had softened slightly and was now giving her the tiniest of smiles as he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"_I think a lot of people are. He probably just needs some time." _When she nodded, Conner let go of her hand and turned back to face the front again. _"Soon enough, he'll be back to his old self, defiling the English language."_

Her eyes widened a bit only to be quickly replaced with mirth as she let out a silent giggle. _"You know Wally would have made a joke of some sort about you growing a sense of humour there."_

Conner couldn't help but smile a bit sadly at that.

"_I know."_

-)(-

'Welcome to Mesa City'

At least he was somewhere in America still. If he remembered from geography correctly, this was the opposite end of the country, away from Gotham, Central City and Happy Habor. No big super heroes in town and the closest one he would have to watch out for were Green Arrow and Arsenal, maybe Red Arrow in Star City. This was almost perfect for the moment.

Before he had gotten into town, he had removed the top part of his costume, leaving him wearing a tight t-shirt underneath and the red spandex of the remaining part of the costume. At least it was less attention grabbing than bright yellow, though equally as odd.

So his first stop had been to the closest thrift store where he picked up an old hoodie, some jeans and a worn bag where he stored his suit. Disposing of it and having it accidentally discovered was too risky. The hoodie had also hidden his hair and face for the moment but he knew that wouldn't last long.

The second stop had been to a hair salon. The little trip had been a bit of a hit to his metaphorical wallet, but how different he looked with just that little changed said it was worth it. The last place had been a Halloween shop. It was off season at the moment so there was hardly anyone there, a quick in an out.

Walking into an empty public washroom in a nearby park, he locked the door behind him and placed his small bag that he had purchased earlier beside the sink.

Inside the crinkly plastic bag was a small set of containers that Wally grabbed and unscrewed the caps to. He dipped a finger in the first container and place the coloured contact in one eye and proceeded to do the same to the other. When he was finished, he screwed the caps back on placing it in his sweater pocket and the plastic bag in the trashcan.

The mirror told him that he was no longer Wally West, well at least he didn't look like it. Short chestnut hair and dark brown, almost black coloured eyes stared back at him. It was slightly disorienting but entirely necessary.

That moment, his stomach decided to make itself known with a growl. Just as necessary as getting some food in his stomach it seemed. It was around lunchtime now and he was starved!

Paul's Diner two blocks from the park seemed relatively small and humble enough. Right as the door opened, a whoosh of air flew past his face, the smell promising bacon and grilled chicken. In short glorious food! As fast at normal humans were supposed to walk, he bee lined for a stool at the counter and picked up a nearby menu.

About two minute had passed when a larger middle aged man in a white apron stopped in front of Wally. The slightly balding man was quite tall and had a customer winning smile. Wally went ahead and assumed this was Paul. After all, other than him, there was only one waitress and customers in the diner.

"What can I get for you son?" He pulled out a notepad and pen ready scrawl down the order.

"I'll have a chi-" Wally clamped his mouth shut before a chant of food orders could tumble out. His pockets were light to start off with and his spendings today made them even more so. "I'll just have a chicken sandwich and water."

A plate was in front of him in less than five minutes and Wally had inhaled it all in less than one and a half. Paul laughed at him saying something about having an endless pit for a stomach and a vacuum for a mouth. However his stomach growled again.

"You still hungry huh? How about you order something else. I'll try to whip it up faster than you can eat this time," he chortled.

The young man stared at the menu that had been closed and discarded to the side, but reaching into his pocket, he realized that after the previous meal he would only be left with a dollar twenty-five in quarters. Not much to work on there. Smiling sheepishly he shook his head, "No thank you, I-I wouldn't have enough to afford anything else anyways."

Paul expression didn't change though, "Grab some money from home? You can be my first teen regular you know!"

He didn't even need to act, he frowned and turned his head downwards at the thought of home and how he couldn't go back. Paul was waiting expectantly for an answer though. Might as well tell the truth. "Can't. Because I can't go home, not anymore."

This, made the older man frown. "Wow, sorry champ, I didn't mean to bring something bad up. Did… you get kicked out or something?"

"Yeah. Or something."

Neither of them spoke. Wally sat awkwardly and Paul looked to be thinking for a bit while idle chatter and clinking plates and utensils in the background filled the silence. Then a large warm hand came down with a mighty clap on Wally's shoulder.

"I know! If you can clean and wash dishes as fast as you ate that sandwich," Paul chuckled amusingly at Wally's reddening face, "I'll hire you to work here and I'll even give you a discount on the food. How's that sound champ?"

Wally stared up at the man with wide eyes. Sure there were a lot of nice people out there but- "Are you sure?!"

"Of course!" The man's eyes crinkled in amusement, "You seem like an honest kid, and I feel like you would need to food more than the money with the way you eat. Now, how about I fix you a hamburger and some fries on the house." Without even waiting for Wally to answer or most likely protest, Paul had headed back off to the kitchen.

His initial shock was replaced by a grin as he shook his head disbelievingly. He wasn't so sure if he had just accepted a job or had gotten manhandled into one.

Alone again, - the waitress was attending to the other customers - Wally dug through his backpack for the pile of scrap papers that he had brought. Their edges were frays and many of them faded from constant handling. They didn't look very special being different sizes and only having the odd scribble on them, by Wally handles them like delicate glass. These paper scraps were important after all. They were what started everything.


	3. Chapter 3

What is this, an update!?

Though I have to admit, demanding for a new chapter is not going to do anything except demotivate me. Generic things like "Can't wait for the next chapter!" or "Update soon please!" are fine. Don't be rude and act like a spoiled demanding child though, please and thank you.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Young Justice

* * *

A week. It had already been a week, since everything had happened. Seven days, a hundred sixty-eight hours, ten thousand and eighty minutes, he counted out. But everything prior to the numerical representation of that interval felt like another lifetime. Wally had used all of that time to scramble and scrap together a façade of a "stable life" in order to fall back onto in case people started getting suspicious. Of course on his own, it was just nowhere near perfect. A new hair style and contacts were no glamour charm and his backstory had more holes than Swiss cheese, but- it would have to do for now.

He slept in the park those first two nights, leaving him feeling grimy and smelling disgusting. Paul seemed to agree when he had showed up for work the third morning, shoved him into an office-like back room with a connecting bathroom and told him to shower before he scared customers away. Wally had gladly obliged.

The droning sound of running water was soothing in a way. It was the same no matter where he was. A shower and warm food; funny how that wasn't something he had placed much thought into before, they were always just there. He guessed he had been too busy juggling around keeping track of those "journal entries" as he had taken to calling them, and figuring out how to get past step one of disappearing to think out the finer details. At least most of it was taken care of so that he could move on. He just needed to find a roof over his head now.

A long shower later and changed into a second pair of clothes he had managed to get at the thrift store with his pay, the t-shirt clad teen walked out to get to work. Though, the angry middle-aged man crossing his arms and fixing him with a hard stare made it a bit difficult to do so.

"Uh hey Paul, I won't scare away the customers now?" he had joked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

The stare didn't seem to change though, and Wally had remembered how uncomfortable he felt under it. It wasn't Bat-level per-say, it felt like how Uncle Barry would stare him down when he knew something was up. Wally had tried his best not to freeze and give anything away in case he was already in trouble.

The stare slowly melted into a sigh though and the older man turned around to grab a spatula and made his way to the counter. Without looking back, Paul had simply said, "There a free couch in that office if you want champ."

Wally froze then and couldn't help but blink owlishly. No questions, no prying or interrogating about his circumstances. Paul seemed to know and give Wally exactly what he needed without a second thought. A genuine grin had stretched across his face. A string of "thank you's" and one unmanly hug later, Wally started happily cleaning dishes in the kitchen.

Today though, today he had to start his real work. He waited until his lunch break - which was really at two o'clock - and sat down in a booth with a plate in hand. Looking around, the diner was empty except for one customer at the counter Paul was taking care of. With that, Wally waved his hand to the single waitress he had met earlier in the week.

"Hey Monica! Wanna have lunch with me?" That certainly had gotten her attention, and with a quick scan around for customers like he had done so earlier, she nodded with a small smile.

"Sure, just give me a sec to grab some food."

He waited patiently as she disappeared into the back and brought over a small plate of food to sit opposite of him in the booth. "Wow Richard, this is the first time I've seen food still on the plate by the time I've gotten back," she teased feigning shock in her voice, "What's the occasion?"

"Har-har." Wally pouted slightly as he stabbed a fork full of food, but decided against eating it for now. "Well, uh," He wasn't really sure how to begin. "You know I'm not really from around here right?" He was pretty sure she muttered something close to "Explains all those stupid questions you asked Paul." but he continued without commenting on that. "Well I was wondering since you grew up here and all, if you knew if there were any places I should avoid in the city. Like uh, gangs or criminal activities areas and stuff."

Monica stopped mid-action, fork halfway to her mouth only to place it back down and fix Wally with a suspiciously raised eyebrow. "That's, a really specific question." It was more like a prompt for an explanation rather than a factual statement and Wally inwardly berated himself for treating her similar to Paul conversationally. She was a lot less trusting than Paul it seemed. He would have to be more careful with how he said things.

"I just wanted to know where I shouldn't go, that type of stuff is what got me into my current mess anyways." Of course Monica would interpret that as his 'being kicked out' story, but the easiest way to lie was to hide the truth inside it after all.

With a shake of her head and a sigh, the older girl continued. "You really are a trouble magnet aren't you, and here I thought you were just a bottomless pit."

"Hey I resent that!" Wally turned up his nose like an arrogant prince, though the smile said otherwise. "At least I'm not the one who dropped a full tray of plates, twice."

"…Jerk."

"Of course! I'm a 'Dick' after all."

Loud chuckles rang out in the diner, but no one seemed to mind. "Well played Richard, well played." Monica took another bite of food before turning back to Wally. "To answer your earlier question, on the East side of the city by the old factories, gangs apparently hang out there. Though maybe thieves is a better term for them since they go around stealing stuff. They're getting more dangerous and more on the level of big city criminals so I would steer clear of them altogether."

"Okay, East side, big baddies, got it."

"Yeah. Now I better finish my food quickly I have classes in an hour after all."

The following twenty minutes were spent eating with the occasion conversation between the two but was otherwise a quiet affair. When Monica finished, she quickly gathered up her thing to get ready to leave, sparing Wally only a 'See you tomorrow'. Wally of course had also finished his food long before, but opted to stay in the booth since it would be left all to himself. He pulled one of the many faded loose-leaf sheets out of his pocket and read it quietly to himself.

"The little yellow swallow sat alone in its cage, unaware that a predator was lurking just beyond its vision until it was too late. It's one regret was not knowing its predator before there was nothing left but an empty cage in that home that was no longer safe guarded."

To anyone else, this would had made absolutely no sense. But, sheet after sheet of these little notes, Wally slowly had begun to understand these snippets of non-sense a while back. He was the little yellow swallow it seemed, and he had a predator to find.

With a tired heave, he pushed himself up and replaced the sheet to its original spot in his pocket. Before that though, he had a mountain of plates waiting for him.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() 

"_There's absolutely nothing there Nightwing….Nothing."_

The red numbers of an alarm clock read 3:46 AM but the brightness from several computer screens lit up an otherwise dark apartment. Dick sat there deftly typing away on a keyboard, mauve-coloured bags rimming his eyes. A quiet sigh escaped his lips as he stilled his fingers and let his arms rest on what room was left on the cluttered desk.

He wearily reached one hand up to rub his face and stared at the computer screens where multiple files, articles and mission reports were displayed. Three days. He had been working for three days straight and he was starting to ware out quickly. But, he couldn't stop now. The clacking of the keyboard returns as he types in some more words to cross reference several other documents.

The night of the memorial, he had spoken with Kaldur about taking some time off from everything. The Atlantian, in all his unyielding patience and understanding had said nothing more than "Take care of yourself my friend." before letting him go without needing anything else to be said. Maybe Kaldur had also known that Dick didn't want to say anything more, couldn't say anything more. Leaving behind the team, quitting duties to grasp at straws, people might have thought he was insane if they knew, or simply desperate, and maybe he was both.

Wally had been his best friend, his brother even since the day he was 11. They watched out for each other and shared everything, he knew everything there was to know…Yet, he felt like he missed something. And that singular possibility had quietly eaten away at him, only making itself known the moment the other boy vanished.

Just last year, Wally had been such a jokester, a class clown that never failed to make him smile or brighten up a room. Then he went and quit the team. Dick had thought it was because of Tula's death leaving Kaldur alone that made him not want the same for his relationship with Artemis. He told himself that constantly to keep away the pain of what stung like betrayal. To keep down the urge to angrily confront and yell at the speedster a second time. The first time had earned him a right hook to the jaw. Wally had only wanted what was best for both himself and Artemis after all.

So he had simply brushed aside the subdued personality, how seriously Wally started to take things, how mature he suddenly became. Wally and being mature, he would have laughed until he was rolling on the floor last year if someone had told him that. But seeing him like that had nagged at him; like you were aware that someone always had a gun to the back of your head, but never pulled the trigger. A sixth sense kind of feeling. Then, when he heard what M'gann had said, maybe that was when the trigger had already gone off without anyone noticing.

It wasn't the fact that Wally had, died. No, it was after that. The death, the shock and the grief, they clouded thinking. It had even taken him a week to figure out why that statement felt so out of place; why he suddenly felt that he missed something.

It was the omission of something, the fact that there WAS nothing there. The lack-off, negative space and information was his entire basis for this, but it made so much sense. For so much energy being generated only minutes earlier by three speedsters and a Magnetic Field Disruptor, it was too clean, too immaculately flawless of an area. No residual energy, no excess magnetic field. One morning, he had realized that the transfer of energy reminded him a lot of a zeta beam, if only something could harness it.

Or someone.

He continued to type as he shakily took a swig of his fifth cup of coffee that night. He had to make absolutely sure he was right. The evidence was too flimsy and in reality, it literally didn't exist. At the moment, Wally West was dead, and the finality to that statement had made it impossible to admit otherwise.

But if he was right, then now that the gun had fired, it was only a matter of time until he found where the bullet was lodged.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Bart, that was reckless! What if you had gotten hurt?"

"Sorry Artemis. I was- I guess I got distracted... hehe."

Tigress and Kid Flash had just gotten back to the watchtower from Central, having taken on Captain Cold in place of the Flash who was forced off-world. The villain had managed some shots from his freeze gun that had knocked Kid Flash off balance and vulnerable. If not for his partner Tigress jumping in that is.

"Distracted? You need to pay more attention, that's the third time this week! If you're not more careful, you could end up like Wal-..."

Artemis stopped mid-sentence as she realized what she had been about to say. All week, people had been talking about Wally easily, gradually more fondly than mournful. But to use his name now, in a situation like this, she couldn't do it.

Both of them simply stood there, Artemis looked to the side awkwardly gripping one of her arms. It didn't seem like she was going to continue. As the silence grew though, so did the grimace that had started on Bart's face.

Bart narrowed his eyes minutely. "Like who? Like Wally." he seethed quietly more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, I could end up like him. Heck, I already am wearing his costume! Let's take his name and while I'm at it, end up just like him as well!" Little by little the once quiet and cheerful voice escalated to a bellowing scream of desperate frustration and what could be described as pain. "I'm a fraud Artemis! I can't keep doing this!"

He turned sharply to walk away just when Artemis reached out and clamped down on his left arm to violently turn him back around. Eyebrows knitted and teeth clenched together; angry.

"Is that what this whole thing is about!? You've been running around stupidly because you feel like you're a fake!?"

The grip on his arm tightened.

"He wore that name proudly, and you should too!"

Artemis saw it, rage, disgust and shame flickered through the little speedster's eyes. Why, she wondered, but before she ever got a chance to voice her opinion, Bart less than gently snapped his arm back from her hold.

"Ugh, I am so not crash right now Artemis! Just leave me alone!" Before another word was spoken, Bart had already zipped out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, Beast Boy found the irate speedster sitting in his room with his head in his hands.

"You know Artemis is just worried about you." He offered quietly as the door slide to a close behind him with a small hiss.

Tired green eyes flickered up quickly to see the visitor, only to return to their fixation on the ground a second later. "I know." Bart replied in an equally quiet voice.

Beast Boy took the response and lack of screaming to get out of his room as a good sign and proceeded to sit beside the speedster on his bed. His big sister of sorts had always told him talking things out helped, so maybe it would be the same here. "Soooo," he began hesitantly, "Why did you yell at her? You can't be mad at her for lecturing you about being reckless, can you?"

The silence that followed was initially the only response. Then after a minute or two, a long suffering groan escaped beneath the hands of the hunched over redhead. That's what it must have looked like to everyone, and it had taken BB pointing it out for him to realize. "I'm not mad at her…More at myself really. No, entirely at myself. Actually, disgusted more than anything."

"Mad at yourself? Why?" He scrunched up his face trying to figure it out. They had been yelling about being a fake and fraud, maybe that's why he was talking about.

"It's because I'm glad…"

Okay, now Beast Boy was just thoroughly confused. "Wait. What? I'm confused, you're not making any sense dude."

For the first time in the whole conversation, Bart lifted his head out of his hands and let out a sad broken chuckle. "I'm angry at myself for wearing his suit because…. I'm glad he's dead."


End file.
